ESO Endless Archive
Endless Archive is a rogue-like Dungeon in ESO, designed for Two Players, a Player and a Companion or Solo Players! The Archive pits players against waves of enemies with a simple goal in mind, to make it as far as possible! Inside the Endless Archive you can fight various enemies and earn unique rewards, including a special Archive Currency and Class dedicated Sets!
Table of Contents
- What is the Endless Archive
- How the Endless Archive Works
- Endless Archive Rewards
- Endless Archive Quest
- Merchants and Other Services in Endless Archive
- More ESO guides
What is the Endless Archive in ESO
The Endless Archive is a rogue-like Dungeon, designed as a Duo Arena that players can also complete alone or with the help of one of the many Companions in ESO! A never ending challenge that is getting harder and harder the more you play and advance. The goal of the Archive is to make it as far as possible and collect its various rewards, as well as its unique currency, Archival Fortune. There is only one level of difficulty in the Archive, unlike other group or solo content in ESO. Additionally you cannot save your progress and continue later or another day. You will have to complete your Endless Archive run in one go.
Leaderboards are also available for the Archive for Duo and Solo players. Playing with a Companion will not register as a Solo run. The Archive is located on the North Eastern Part of the Apocrypha zone but is available with the base game! Non Necrom Chapter(required to access the Apocrypha zone) owners can enter the Archive by clicking on its icon on the map. Any good Solo Build can work well in the Archive but a dedicated Endless Archive Build with a combination of strong Defense and offense will be the Best to use! Some Endless Archive Builds you can use are:
How the Endless Archive Works in ESO
The Archive consists of Stages, Cycles and Arcs! Three(3) Stages make a Cycle and Five(5) Cycles make an Arc! Every new Arc you enter ramps up the difficulty of the gameplay. A stage consists of three(3) waves of enemies, with the final wave being slightly harder and having more enemies. All enemies in a wave share the same theme and can come from every corner or content of ESO. When you clear the first two stages you unlock the third, which is basically a Cycle Boss fight! Cycle Bosses can be any Boss from any place in Tamriel. You will encounter Delve, Overworld, Public Dungeons, 4-man Dungeons and Trial Bosses at the end of every Cycle in the Archive! Each Boss has its own unique mechanics(with the hardest of them being toned down for the Archive) and some Bosses are harder than other!
At the end of the Fifth Cycle, you will fight instead Tho’at Replicanum, the Archive’s main Boss and the Boss that you need to defeat before you can unlock every new Arc! Tho’at has also unique mechanics that expand and evolve with every new Arc! You only have three(3) lives or Threads of Fate as they are called. When you lose all three your run is over!
Tho’at Replicanum Boss Mechanics in ESO
During the first Arc fight Tho’at has the following main attacks:
- Summons Crystal ground AOEs that deal significant damage over time while you stand inside them.
- Summons a Greatsword and slices with it dealing moderate damage.
- With the Greatsword performs a Heavy Attack that can one shot you unless you block it. Tho’at will teleport to you before the attack.
- Throws the Greatsword and summons a huge eye that fires a beam at you. Easy to evade by moving around.
- Summons a Mirror that shields her from attacks. If you attack her while shielded she reflects damage!
- Summons Glass Shards that throws at you. If she throws all Shards at the same time can one shot you.
- Summons more Shards that attack you independently. Kill them fast.
In the Second Arc Tho’at will use the same attacks as before but also add a few new moves:
- Tho’at will expand the area and summon a Crystal Tentacle that attacks you.
- At around 60% Health will summon a Crystal Atronach called Tho’at’s Shard that attacks you along with her.
- The Crystal Atronach can teleport in the area, summon large and smaller Crystal Tentacles.
In the Third Arc Tho’at will use the same attacks as before but also add a few new moves:
- When the Crystal Atronach drops to around 60% Health will further expand the area and summon a Crystal Manticora!
- The Manticora does moderate damage when you are close but it has a deadly AOE attack! It summons shards of glass above you that slowly follow you before they descent, dealing massive damage and stunning you. Avoid this attack at all costs!
- The Manticora can also spawn crystal walls on the ground, that are however easy to avoid.
Special Enemies in Endless Archive ESO
During your run you will face a few types of special enemies in the Archive. These include:
- Fabled Enemies
- Marauders
- Gw the Pilferer
Fabled enemies are named enemies that use special attacks during Stages. They are not that hard to defeat, they just use special abilities against you. Marauders on the other hand are powerful Boss-like Enemies that can appear from Arc 2 and beyond during Stages. Marauders have lots of HP and deadly moves that can kill you easily. Unlike other enemies during a Stage, a Marauder can drop loot. Gw the Pilferer finally is a goblin that appears during Cycle Boss fights and also offers loot. Gw is not fighting back but you need to kill him fast before he escapes.
Portal to the Unknown in Endless Archive ESO
Often when you complete a Stage a “Portal to the Unknown” will appear. These portals take you to new areas where you have to complete a mini game or defeat a special enemy for extra rewards. The known Portal to the Unknown encounters so far are:
- Destozuno’s Library
- Echoing Den
- Filer’s Wing
- Haefal’s Butchery
- Theater of War
- Treacherous Crossing
In Destozuno’s Library help Destozuno by accepting a series of quests. The first quest will ask you to find Sheaves of Pages during your Archive runs. When you find all Sheaves the next time you will meet Destozuno she will offer a new Quest, to gather Bookbinding Supplies! The third quest will send you again in a hunt for Sheaves of Pages, only this time more of them. In Echoing Den, bring back the soul fragments to the spirits in the area while in Filer’s Wing you will take the form of a Filer and with the use of special skills you should find and defeat Tomeshells.
Inside Haefal’s Butchery eat Sweet Rolls while in a goat form to regain your strength and defeat the Butcher with your Ultimate! In Theater of War defeat the Arcanist Aramril to proceed and in Treacherous Crossing use the switches to clear the path and get to other side as fast as possible. Treacherous crossing is easier to complete with another player. Completing Portals to the Unknown offers extra rewards in the form of Muniment Chests and Verses!
Verses and Visions in Endless Archive ESO
In your effort to clear the Archive from the countless enemies inside you can rely on the help of Verses and Visions! These are special buffs that you earn at the end of Stages and Cycles and can help you become stronger. Verses are temporary buffs that you can take at the end of a Stage and last until the end of the next Stage! Usually you can only have one Verse active at any time but you can get a second when clearing a Portal to the Unknown encounter!
Visions are permanent buffs that you get when you defeat a Cycle Boss or Tho’at Replicanum at the end of an Arc. Visions will last until the rest of your archive run, can complement your Build and are more important because of this. You can stack Visions of the same type and become even more stronger in specific aspect of gameplay. Both Verses and Visions are divided in Offensive, Defensive and Utility categories, offering unique buffs to your gameplay. For a complete list of all Verses and Visions you can find in the Archive, you can take a look at my Endless Archive Verses and Visions Guide!
Endless Archive Rewards in ESO
When you defeat a Cycle Boss or Tho’at Replicanum, you get a Muniment Chest! This Chest can drop various rewards including:
- Archival Fortune, the archive’s unique currency
- Companion gear
- Overworld Sets Pieces
- Furnishings
- Leads for Antiquities
- Hermaeus Mora Deck Fragments
- Treasures
- Gold and more items
Chests you get when defeating Tho’at will also drop pieces from Class dedicated Sets you can only find in the Archive! Marauders and Gw the Pilferer are enemies that can also drop similar loot to Muniment Chests. Only Marauders can drop Class Sets pieces though. Finally Muniment Chests can also appear after clearing a “Portal to the Unknown” encounter. To learn more about Class Sets you can read my Endless Archive Class Sets Guide!
Endless Archive Daily Quest in ESO
Inside the Archive’s “Lobby” area you can talk to Master Malkhest and receive “The Margins of Ire” Quest. You can complete the Quest by clearing the first Arc of the Archive. As a reward you will receive Archival Fortunes, Class Sets pieces and a Skill point. After that you can accept it again as a Daily Quest titled “Replication Elimination“.
Merchants and Other Services in Endless Archive ESO
In the same area with Master Malkhest you can find two Merchants and a few services. Filer Tezurs and Filer Ool are the two main Merchants of the Archive. You can only use Archival Fortune currency to buy items from them. Filer Tezurs offers:
- Account Upgrades for the Archive
- Furnishings
- Class Sets pieces
- Crafting Materials
- Mystery Verses
Filer Ool offers:
- Furnishings
- Treasure Maps
- Companion Gear
- Style Pages
- Collectibles fragments
- Random Antiquities & Mythic Items Leads
- Upgrades to Tales of Tribute Cards
In this area you can also find the Runic Thread Weaver and the Reset Hourglass switches! Use the Runic Thread Weaver to end and register your run to the leadeboards. Use the Reset Hourglass to reset the instance and start again!
More ESO Guides to Read
- Vateshran Hollows Arena Guide
- Maelstrom Arena Guide
- Best Solo Class Guide
- Companions Tier List
- Best XP Grind Spots
- ESO Leveling Guide
- How to Make Gold in ESO
- Endless Archive Best Companion
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